Fires happen all over the world, but the fires that happen inside a person’s home are often the most preventable and all it takes is a little diligence and some common sense to discover what the fire hazards in your home are and how to get rid of them when you find them.
It is a fact that most house fires happen in the kitchen. Even though a great number of these small stove fires go unreported because they do not do any damage, you really need to learn what you can do to prevent them from happening in the first place, because it only takes a second or two for a small fire to spread into a much larger one. House fire prevention begins in the kitchen by learning that you should never leave anything on the stove unattended unless it is an emergency and you should never leave the house to go and run errands during this time unless someone is going to be there to keep an eye on the cooking.
You also need to be careful with deep fryers and electric skillets. Any appliance that emits a large amount of heat needs to be monitored consistently to make sure that it does not overheat and catch on fire and you should not ever have to use an extension cord with these. Small extension cords like the ones you would use for lamps will NOT work and will melt. If you must use an extension cord, make sure it is a heavy duty one with a gauge of at least 14.
Heating shortening and oil in the kitchen also poses a significant problem, since it is so flammable. Heat these slowly so that they do not burn and do not catch on fire and if you have to leave the room, turn them off or have someone watch them for you.
Space heaters are also a big problem during the winter time and like with deep fryers and electric skillets, do not use an extension cord with these. Do not place them near drapes or other fabric items and keep children away from them. Also try not to leave them on overnight while you are sleeping unless you absolutely have to and even then, make sure you take the necessary steps to keep flammable items away from them. Do not use these in the bedrooms of small children due to the amount of flammable stuffed animals, pillows, and blankets that are likely to be there.
The worst thing that you can do is let yourself become comfortable with these appliances and allow yourself to think that you know what you are doing and a fire cannot happen to you. Letting your guard down in this manner is what causes a large amount of house fires.
Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts
Showing posts with label fire. Show all posts
Friday, January 18, 2008
Easy Ways To Maintain A Smoke Free Fireplace
Quite a few homes have fireplaces, but not all of them are fit to be used as they are because they have not been cleaned in so long that when you do try to use them, it fills the house with smoke. This can do a lot of damage to the inside of the home, including ruin the paint on your walls, your curtains, and discolor your carpet. It is also a health risk, since breathing this in is not good for anyone, but the elderly, people with allergies, pets, and children are especially affected. Fortunately, though, in most situations you can make a fire that will not smoke up your house without much trouble as long as you follow a few rules.
The damper of your chimney needs to be open before you do anything. Burn some paper or other easily combustible materials in the fireplace, because you want to warm the chimney up. Cold air in the chimney is will push the warm air down and cause the smoke to fill up the room.
Open up the windows in the house and make sure that there is enough air circulating to ignite the fire. A home that is insulated well might not have enough of a draft to allow the wood to catch on fire.
You should also have some fireplace bricks underneath the grill to add some more air circulation to the process. More draft in the fireplace will make it easier for the fire to ignite.
The top of the fireplace also needs to be cleaned out regularly, since anything that gets stuck in it like leaves, sticks, bird nests can keep the smoke from being able to escape and so it floods back into the house, which is exactly where you do not want it.
You should also have the fireplace cleaned by a professional cleaning service if possible, since a layer of creosote is likely built up on the inside of the chimney. This is a tar-like substance that results from burning wood in the fireplace and if your chimney has not been professionally cleaned before and you have lived in your house for many years, then it is time for it to be. Creosote can catch on fire and cause the whole house to burn down, so having it cleaned out is essential.
To keep your fireplace functioning the way that it should, you need to know how to use it and take care of it and by the time winter gets to you, you will be able to enjoy your fireplace once again.
The damper of your chimney needs to be open before you do anything. Burn some paper or other easily combustible materials in the fireplace, because you want to warm the chimney up. Cold air in the chimney is will push the warm air down and cause the smoke to fill up the room.
Open up the windows in the house and make sure that there is enough air circulating to ignite the fire. A home that is insulated well might not have enough of a draft to allow the wood to catch on fire.
You should also have some fireplace bricks underneath the grill to add some more air circulation to the process. More draft in the fireplace will make it easier for the fire to ignite.
The top of the fireplace also needs to be cleaned out regularly, since anything that gets stuck in it like leaves, sticks, bird nests can keep the smoke from being able to escape and so it floods back into the house, which is exactly where you do not want it.
You should also have the fireplace cleaned by a professional cleaning service if possible, since a layer of creosote is likely built up on the inside of the chimney. This is a tar-like substance that results from burning wood in the fireplace and if your chimney has not been professionally cleaned before and you have lived in your house for many years, then it is time for it to be. Creosote can catch on fire and cause the whole house to burn down, so having it cleaned out is essential.
To keep your fireplace functioning the way that it should, you need to know how to use it and take care of it and by the time winter gets to you, you will be able to enjoy your fireplace once again.
Restoring Smoke Damaged Clothes
Anyone who has been the victim of a house fire will tell you that the cleanup that you have to do afterward is a huge chore and that a lot of things in your house will either have to be cleaned thoroughly or have to be replaced. Unfortunately, this includes something that everyone has to use on a daily basis: clothing. The vast majority of us have to wear clothing every day of our lives and if a fire were to affect our whole wardrobe, a lot of us would be in some trouble.
Fortunately for us, though, cleaning smoke damaged clothing is not always as difficult as some might make it out to be. You will need to sort your clothing fairly heavily, though, since there are so many factors involved. How soiled the clothing is, what it is made out of, and what color it is. This will be the most time consuming part of the whole task.
Some things will need to be dry cleaned, but you do not want to take these to a normal dry cleaning service. Make sure that the dry cleaning service that you are dealing with has experience in dealing with smoke damaged clothing items.
Sort your clothes. Lightly soiled clothing should be put into one group and heavily soiled items into another. Sort them further by dividing them into kinds of fabric. Put synthetic fabrics into one pile and organics such as wool and cotton in another. Further sort them by color type. Bright warm colors, cool colors, dark colors, and reds should be given their own group. Do not be concerned over whether there is enough in each pile to constitute a full load. Washing them separately like this is necessary.
Before you wash the heavily soiled clothing, take them outside and shake them out. The excess soot and ash need to be removed so that the water in the washing machine does not become too saturated with dirt to be of any real use. Heavily soiled clothes should be washed twice or more.
Use as much detergent as the washer requires and add about a cup of water conditioner to the mix. Some all-fabric bleach can also be used. Use as much water as your machine can handle for each load.
Synthetic items should be washed in warm water so that they do not start to wrinkle during the washer’s spin cycle. Wrinkles can be difficult to remove from synthetic fabrics.
Hang the clothes out to dry instead of using the dryer, but do not do this in your basement or a confined area. Clothes should never be hung to dry inside the house; only do this outside. After they dry, smell them and see if the smoke odor is still there. If it is, wash them again and repeat the drying process.
Fortunately for us, though, cleaning smoke damaged clothing is not always as difficult as some might make it out to be. You will need to sort your clothing fairly heavily, though, since there are so many factors involved. How soiled the clothing is, what it is made out of, and what color it is. This will be the most time consuming part of the whole task.
Some things will need to be dry cleaned, but you do not want to take these to a normal dry cleaning service. Make sure that the dry cleaning service that you are dealing with has experience in dealing with smoke damaged clothing items.
Sort your clothes. Lightly soiled clothing should be put into one group and heavily soiled items into another. Sort them further by dividing them into kinds of fabric. Put synthetic fabrics into one pile and organics such as wool and cotton in another. Further sort them by color type. Bright warm colors, cool colors, dark colors, and reds should be given their own group. Do not be concerned over whether there is enough in each pile to constitute a full load. Washing them separately like this is necessary.
Before you wash the heavily soiled clothing, take them outside and shake them out. The excess soot and ash need to be removed so that the water in the washing machine does not become too saturated with dirt to be of any real use. Heavily soiled clothes should be washed twice or more.
Use as much detergent as the washer requires and add about a cup of water conditioner to the mix. Some all-fabric bleach can also be used. Use as much water as your machine can handle for each load.
Synthetic items should be washed in warm water so that they do not start to wrinkle during the washer’s spin cycle. Wrinkles can be difficult to remove from synthetic fabrics.
Hang the clothes out to dry instead of using the dryer, but do not do this in your basement or a confined area. Clothes should never be hung to dry inside the house; only do this outside. After they dry, smell them and see if the smoke odor is still there. If it is, wash them again and repeat the drying process.
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